The Surprising Secret Behind Those Mysterious Black Dots on Your Windscreen Finally Revealed

You ever find yourself staring at the top corner of your car’s windshield, wondering what those little black dots are all about? No? Well, me neither—until recently. It turns out those mysterious specks, officially called “frits,” aren’t some quirky design accident or part of an elaborate defrosting scheme. Nope, they’re pretty darn clever actually. In a world where the internet often feels like a black hole of nonsense, stumbling upon a neat, mind-boggling fact like this is like finding a $20 bill in your winter coat—unexpected and totally delightful. From why elevators always have mirrors to the science behind waking up just before your alarm, we’ve been uncovering the “hidden in plain sight” stuff that everyone swears they know but probably don’t. And these frits? They’re the unsung heroes keeping your vision crystal clear by spreading heat evenly across your windshield—saving you from seeing a Baz Luhrmann movie reenacted on the highway, where straight lines suddenly start bowing like a bad acid trip. Curious to geek out a little more on this? Take a peek: LEARN MORE.

While the internet can be a dark and horrible place at times, often you will come across a shining light in the form of a funny video or an informative article such as this one, which makes everything alright again.

A recent trend on the internet, which is perhaps unsurprising given some had ‘no idea’ what happened when your clothes get dry cleaned or how to write with a pen these days, is where we’re finding out facts about things we see almost every day.

For example, we probably all spend time in a lift at least once a week, especially if we work in an office, yet many of us have no idea of the very clever reasons why there’s nearly always a mirror in there.

There’s also plenty of science to explain why we wake up just before an alarm or why we experience Déjà vu, but something that is almost universal is owning or at least regularly travelling in a car.

I’m sure there’s plenty of buttons on your dashboard you might not be familiar with but what about the black dots, which can be seen on the top right?

Well, Autoglaze has explained the pretty important reason why nearly every car these days has the black dots, which are officially known as ‘frits’.

These dots actually have a purpose (Lucy Lambriex/Getty stock images)

A frit helps to distribute temperature evenly across the glass screen, which helps to drastically reduce the chances of optical illusions and lensing for drivers, which is obviously pretty good.

The last thing you want when you’re on the motorway is to be distracted by a candle stick. Or is it two faces?

If there is too much heat in one part of the glass, it will impact your vision of the road as straight lines can appear curved or bowed inwards. Again, not ideal.

Autoglaze added: “They create etches on the surface, making them rougher so the adhesive can stick better to the glass.

“Frits are also there for aesthetic purposes. If you look closely, the contrast between the dark band and the transparent glass can look too obvious even when viewed from afar.

They can help us drive safely by making sure we aren’t seeing things (Getty stock images)

“Creating a halftone pattern or dot-matrix allows a gradual decrease in size, making the transition much more subtle and easier on the eyes.”

This was news to a lot of social media users, who took to Reddit to share their amazement after finding out more about frits.

One said: “That is brilliant and simple. So simple that it isn’t believable but so believable that it can’t be that simple!”

Another said: “I am stunned at the amount that I have learned about frit today.”

A third added: “Huh.. I always thought they had some type of functionality like defrosting the windows.”

And a fourth chimed in: “To adhere and protect. Sounds like a good life purpose!”